History[edit]
Al-Masri was a member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad alongside Ayman
al-Zawahiri and fled the country in the mid-1980s along with many
other Islamic militants. He joined the mujahideen in the Bosnian War
(1992–1995).[6] He was sentenced to death in Egypt, in absentia, in
1998, in the case of the Returnees from Albania, for allegedly being
responsible of a series of terror attacks in Egyptian towns during the
1990s.[7]
He headed al-Qaeda's political committee and was a member of the Shura
Council. He has been described as operating as a "trusted lieutenant"
of the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri with whom al-Masri worked
in Sudan and Afghanistan.[6]
Arrested in Iran[edit]
He left Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks and prior to the
United States invasion of Afghanistan. He fled to Iran, where he was
arrested in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in April 2003.[8] Also
arrested alongside him were other senior al-Qaeda leaders including
Saif al-Adel, Abu Mohammed al-Masri and Sulayman Abu Ghayth. According
to a statement that Sulayman Abu Ghayth gave to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation four al-Qaeda leaders were first jailed in an Iranian
intelligence building in Tehran for approximately one year and eight
months.[9]
Release by Iran[edit]
In September 2015 it was reported that Abu Khayr al-Masri was released
by Iran in March 2015 together with other al-Qaeda leaders including
Saif al-Adel and Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah[10] in a prisoner exchange.
He was reported to have then traveled to Syria with three men to join
the Al-Nusra Front branch of al-Qaeda.[6]
Syria[edit]
On 28 July 2016, the Al-Minaret al-Bayda media wing of the Syrian
al-Qaeda branch Jabhat al-Nusra released an audio message from him
claiming that the Nusra front had cut all connections with al-Qaeda
and renamed it the Fateh al-Sham Front.[6]
Death[edit]
Reports surfaced on 26 February 2017 that al-Masri had been killed in
a U.S. drone strike on his car in Al-Mastumah in the Syrian province
of Idlib.[11] There was no immediate official confirmation from either
the United States or al-Qaeda.[6][12] However, The Guardian
journalists Tom McCarthy and Martin Chulov later reported that
jihadist leaders confirmed that al-Masri was in fact killed in the
drone strike.[13] The US airstrike also killed another Tahrir al-Sham
militant traveling in the same car.[2][1] A US intelligence official
as well as al-Qaeda later confirmed that he had been killed in the
strike.[14][15][16]
References[edit]